BILLERICA, MASS.: Echolab has gone out of business after 36 years. Clients included NBC, ABC, the BBC, corporations, churches and universities among others. The demise of the production switcher vendor was announced May 19 by its CEO, Nigel Spratling:
“It is with much sadness that I have to tell you that... Echolab was put into liquidation. Our primary investor who had negotiated the recent agreement with Harris was no longer prepared to fund the company through the transition and decided that this was his only course of action; it was a great shock to us all.”
Echolab had around 23 employees, all of whom were let go. The company rolled out the new Atem line of compact HD switchers at the 2010 NAB Show and announced that Harris agreed to market and distribute the line. Jim Somerville, chairman of Echolab, negotiated the Harris deal and made the decision to stop funding the switcher company.
Spratling’s announcement continued, “I am truly sorry that this action leaves many unemployed, suppliers with unpaid bills and customers with unsupported products. The recent introduction of an expanded Atem switcher family look set to take us into growth and profit as the market reception was excellent, and our sales funnel had grown by $2 million as a result. We had been sustaining a run rate of about $5 million and the addition of Atem was set to double that.
“I truly believe that our small team had created the very best of breed in small and medium sized production switchers and at a price point that provided exceptional value and margin, facing the loss of these efforts is difficult for everyone involved.
“The liquidation company will be trying to sell the companies assets, product IP and inventory in order to pay creditors over the next few weeks. Hopefully they will be successful in their efforts. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.”
Spratling continues to receive e-mails at nspratling@echolab.com.
-- Deborah D. McAdams
